Sitting with Jim Smith is like sitting down with a kindly British gentleman. He is gracious, well spoken, with a full head of white hair, and a British accent. Politics is not new to Jim. He’s been involved in Oakville politics for years. Even holding the Ward 6 town councillor seat for two terms.
When asked why he didn’t run in the 2014 municipal election, he sites that his son was gravely ill, and he wanted to spend as much time with him as he could.
“People in the community asked me to run, but I just couldn’t,” said Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith’s son unfortunately passed in November 2014, and when Max Khan passed so suddenly, numbers of residents asked again if he would consider running. He took his time, and then decided to add his name to the race on May 28th.
“I felt my past experience and the support of local residents would put me in a good position,” stated Smith.
During his previous time on Town Council he sites three major accomplishments.
- The building of the Upper Middle Bridge that was completed ahead of schedule, and under budget
- Providing community bussing for seniors
- One of the first budgets that reduced town spending
While door knocking during this election, the big issue that keeps being brought forward by Ward 6 residents Jim spoke with is that taxes are too high. He acknowledges that this needs to be tackled. One idea he believes would reduce taxes is reducing the number of town elected positions from 13 to 7. “Burlington did it, why can we?”
Jim lives with his wife in Falgarwood, and has called Ward 6 home for the past 36 years.
Contact information for Jim Smith
home: 905-842-2285
email: [email protected]